


Baby Steve Adventures

by catty_the_spy



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Age Regression, Fluff, Gen, Spells & Enchantments, off-screen bad guy death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-07
Updated: 2012-12-07
Packaged: 2017-11-20 13:58:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/586111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catty_the_spy/pseuds/catty_the_spy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain America gets hit by a spell during a battle. The rest of the Avengers look after him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby Steve Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the second chapter were originally written as seperate pieces, but I decided to post them as one work here.

“He looks…better” Tony says, watching Bruce watch tiny-Steve.

“He is better,” Bruce says. “I think he’ll be ready for a normal bed in a few days.”

Tony frowns. “Can’t we just…keep him here?”

“Here” is the NICU he’d added to Stark Tower the day Steve got smacked in the face by Asgardian magic. He wasn’t a big fan of the babies-in-the-tower deal, but he owed Steve and it was better than dumping him on SHIELD.

“He doesn’t really need it,” Bruce says, and looks around. “It’s useful, but I don’t like the idea of keeping him here twenty-four seven.”

There’s something else under Bruce’s expression that Tony can only just catch. Tony sighs. “I’ll have Pepper work something out.”

Of course, that was a week ago.

Today, Tony is not happy to have giant slugs trying to eat Manhattan. He is even less happy when JARVIS says “Sir, there has been an incident at the tower.”

Tony expects to see giant slugs trying to eat his building. He does not expect to see Hulk sitting in what was left of the NICU, surrounded by bodies and broken machinery.

Hulk glares at him. He’s favoring one of his arms like he’s hurt; Hulk’s never gotten hurt before, but there’s a first time for everything.

“Hey big guy,” Tony says, hovering just outside the window.

Hulk shifts away from him. “Metal Man is late.”

“One of you needs to be here yesterday,” he says, hoping neither Clint nor Natasha have lost their earpieces. Then he comes closer to the Hulk. “Sorry buddy. Where’s Steve?”

Hulk looks about as suspicious as a rage monster can manage. Did he eat Steve? No, Hulk isn’t a cannibal; does it even count as cannibalism if the Hulk eats people? Maybe he squashed Steve?

Before Tony can ask JARVIS to search for a pulverized infant skeleton, Hulk says “Smashing too loud for tiny Star Man.”

This time, Tony really pays attention to the arm Hulk is holding close to his chest. That’s twenty years off his life that he will never get back.

“That’s great. We don’t need any more smashing though. Can you give us Bruce?”

“No.”

“How about Steve?”

“Holy shit.”

There are Clint and Natasha, with the greatest timing in the history of the universe.

“Ixnay on the unsgay,” Tony hisses, as Hulk starts growling again.

“Where’s Rogers?” Natasha asks.

“Hiding behind his guard dog. Also, if he kidnaps Steve I am never forgiving you.”

After a brief moment where it looks like Hulk is gonna make a break for it and the agents are weighing the risks of shooting, Tony lands and opens his visor.

“I think this is all a big misunderstanding. Why don’t you guys leave,” – Tony gestures at the place where the door used to be – “And you, turn back into Bruce. These guys like Steve, remember? It’s fine.”

Natasha slowly lowers her weapon, and after shooting her a look Clint does the same. Hulk shifts into what is presumably a more comfortable position. Now it’s quite easy to see tiny baby Steve draped over one of Hulks massive fingers. The bastard is asleep – somehow – and unreasonably adorable.

Unbelievably it’s Thor that gets the privilege of holding Steve so Hulk can change back, almost an hour later. He has the hammer in one hand and Steve’s head in the other; the transition goes off without a hitch.

Bruce looks mortified when he changes back, but that doesn’t stop Thor from handing Steve right back to him.

“The Hulk would be most displeased where he not in your care.”

And if Bruce doesn’t believe that, Tony had JARVIS take pictures.

 

   
Natasha wakes slowly, enveloped in a cocoon of warmth. She stretches. She can tell from the light she’s overslept.

The tower is quiet. She’d blame Stark’s amazing soundproofing, but even with that she can normally hear them in the hallways. Thor and Bruce have heavy feet, and Stark never shuts up. Despite herself she isn’t worried. She makes her lazy way to the common area, following the barest hint of sound.

The light here is as warm as her bed had felt. There’s a strange woman on the couch. Thor is sitting on the floor beside her with his head on her knee, so any alarm Natasha should have felt slips away.

The woman has Steve in her arms. He’s quiet too – he always is, even now as a baby. Natasha can see his open eyes, focused on the woman’s smiling face.

Natasha gets herself a cup of coffee and sits on one of the chairs to watch them.

It’s not clear how long they sit there, the woman rocking Steve in her arms and humming. Maybe Natasha goes to sleep. She closes her eyes to the warm light and humming and opens them to Thor’s laugh.

The woman is gone. Steve has one of Thor’s fingers and Thor beams down at him.

“Even now you have the grip of a warrior,” Thor says.

Natasha sits up straight. “Was that your mother?”

“Yes.” Thor looks up at her, letting Steve wave his finger back and forth. “She says the best course of action will be to let the spell end on its own. She has accelerated it slightly, but suggests we do no more than that.” He looks back down at Steve, who has abandoned Thor’s fingers in favor of his hair. “I did not know for certain when she would arrive. I’m sorry; I would have informed you beforehand.”

The light in the room is normal; the warmth is gone. She can hear Tony coming down the hallway, talking to JARVIS.

Natasha stands to get more coffee. “Next time come and get me as soon as she gets here.”

 

“Fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty –.”

Steve bops him on the nose.

“You’re supposed to be spotting me,” Clint says, “not sparring with me.”

Steve waves his arms and squeals.

“There’s no way you can take me, man.”

To prove it, Clint tickles Steve’s feet. Steve is a flailing giggly mess, and Clint get’s hit in the face again.

He sighs. “Okay you win. I think my time’s almost up anyway.”

He picks Steve up one handed and kicks the rolling chair thing away.

The convenient thing about Steve-duty is that Steve is easily occupied. Sit ups are a game, walking is an adventure, and give him a couple of toys and a safe zone to crawl around in and he’s set. Bruce says he’s a happy baby; Bruce is also biased.

Tony is the only one in the kitchen when Clint gets there. Clint drops Steve into his lap without comment on his way to the fridge.

“What is this supposed to be?”

“A baby.” They’re out of pretty much everything. Clint eyes the jars of baby food occupying the top shelf.

“Why is it touching me? Ow hey, that’s not a toy.”

Clint glances over his shoulder. Steve’s beating up the arc reactor; they’re fine.

“I can’t hold him and get something to eat at the same time.”

“That’s why we have things to put him in.”

Success! A safe looking pack of lunch meat in the back of one of the drawers. Clint grabs that and the half empty jay of mayo. “All of them are in the living room. Just don’t drop him, it’s not that hard. Bounce him a little.”

Clint looses himself in his quest for food. When he comes back to the table, Tony is scribbling on a napkin and Steve is yawning, slumped against Tony’s chest. He gives the arc reactor a halfhearted tap and rubs his eyes.

Clint tilts his head to the side and shrugs. Tony’s got everything under control, and it’s almost time for him to take over anyway. Clint takes his lunch down to the gym.

   
Bruce pokes his head into Tony’s lab. “Do you have Steve?”

“Sir?” JARVIS says. “Doctor Banner is here.”

“Bruce!”

Bruce follows the sound deeper into Tony’s lab. “Hi. I was looking for Steve.”

“He’s…here.” Tony turns around. “JARVIS where’s….”

“He’s in the playpen sir.”

“Right. The playpen. See, Bruce, he’s fine.”

“Behind you, Dr. Banner,” JARVIS says before Bruce can get really worried. “Captain Rogers is currently sleeping.”

The playpen Pepper bought is almost unrecognizable under the things Tony’s added, but Bruce can clearly see Steve in the middle, sleeping peacefully. He’s surrounded by various holograms – bubbles, stars, diamonds.

There are also a series of monitors and alarms and something that might be a security system.

“Were you that afraid of him getting out?”

“What? No; it’s connected to JARVIS. Only someone on the access list can take him out of there. It’s a safety feature.”

Bruce nods. “And the heart monitor?”

“I don’t want him to die on me.”

Bruce looks over at Tony, who’s seemingly intent on his work. He can’t help but give in to the fond smile overtaking his face.

“I don’t want to move him,” he says. He cleans up the table nearest the pen, getting rid of the scrunched up rags and mushy half eaten cookie and unidentifiably debris. “If it’s okay with you I’ll just leave him here; I can do my work here as well as anywhere.”

Tony waves a dismissive hand in his general direction. Bruce runs a hand over the top of Steve’s head – is the bottom of that thing _heated_? – and goes to find a chair.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the cotton candy bingo prompt “innocent/innocence” and the hc_bingo prompt “time travel gone wrong”. With…a loose interpretation of time travel.


	2. Baby Steve Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers deal with having a baby in the tower. Thankfully, the spell is starting to wear off.

Thor looks from Steve to the diaper in his hands and back again. He frowns. “I believe I understand.”  
  
He examines the diaper Steve’s already wearing one last time; then he gingerly begins to remove it, paying close attention to how it comes apart so he can properly fasten its replacement.  
  
He has to dodge Steve’s legs – Steve kicks when he plays, and at the moment a toy of Stark’s has his attention. Now that he understands the workings of the diaper, following the instructions for changing it are child’s play. He has Steve wiped and freshly clad in short order.  
  
That done, he lifts Steve into his arms. “How shall we occupy ourselves?”  
  
Steve babbles. Allspeak does not enable Thor to understand him, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever activity Thor chooses will be acceptable to Steve; his small friend is content to have his undivided attention, and attention is something Thor is more than happy to provide.  
  
  
With his hands grasped firmly in hers, Natasha sets Steve on his feet. He looks up at her with a dubious expression.  
  
“Give it a shot,” she says, letting him wobble back into her legs. “Look, you can kick that.”  
  
In front of them is one of Clint’s arm guards. Steve had been gnawing on it earlier, and Natasha hadn’t stopped him; served Clint right for leaving it lying around. “Look.”  
  
One of Steve’s feet hits the guard and it moves a short distance across the floor. Thus a game is born.  
  
They walk around the room, Steve practically screaming with joy as he wobbles on his toes. When Natasha gets tired of it she sits down and lets Steve crawl to the arm guard, triumphantly shoving it into his mouth.  
  
“Cover it in your germs,” she says, while Steve crawls back to her with his prize in his mouth. “Make Clint regret ever leaving it here.”  
  
Steve holds it out to her, suddenly realizing that he’s keeping it to himself. Natasha politely takes it from him and looks it over. “That’ll do. Thanks.”  
  
Later, she’ll do some yoga with Steve’s help, and then she’ll pass him off to the next person on the baby-roster and wash the slobber off of her skin. In the mean time…  
  
She picks up Steve and stands. “I hope you’re thirsty.”  
  
  
“What’s up?”  
  
“New tooth,” Bruce says, patting Steve’s back. Steve is red-faced and panting, gnawing on a strange looking pacifier and looking generally miserable.  
  
“I stuck it in the freezer earlier,” Bruce explains when he sees Clint’s mystified expression. “It makes your gums feel better, doesn’t it Steve?” Bruce’s tone got incredibly…mushy. “And tomorrow we’ll get some more baby oragel.”  
  
Clint makes a disgusted face. “What is it about babies that makes people talk like that? It’s bizarre.”  
  
“I can’t help it,” Bruce says, sheepish. “Anyway, what are you doing up? It’s three in the morning.”  
  
“It’s kinda hard to sleep through that,” Clint says, pointing at Steve, who seems to be falling into a fretful sleep. “And I was thirsty, so….”  
  
Bruce is standing next to the fridge, swaying and patting Steve’s back. He looks like he’s about to fall asleep on his feet. Clint has to wonder how he keeps from hulking out when Steve starts crying in the middle of the night, but he hadn’t even when Steve was too tiny for teeth, so it’s too late to worry now.  
  
Clint gets a glass of water while Bruce stands there with his eyes half open. If anybody can sleep on his feet it’s Dr. Banner.  
  
“Maybe you should take this to the couch,” Clint says, when Bruce’s eyes slip shut.  
  
“I think you’re right. Have a good night.”  
  
Around eight, Clint heads up for breakfast. Natasha and Thor are already there, eating in silence. In the living room, Bruce and Steve are sprawled on the couch, out cold.  
  
“They had a late night,” Natasha says. “Tony took pictures.”  
  
Clint gives them another look; one of Steve’s hands is fisted over Bruce’s nose.  
  
“I want those pictures.”  
  
  
Steve is staring intently at the prototype of his shield one the wall, but when Bruce calls his name he beams. He bounces on his feet, ignoring the holographic shapes surrounding him in favor of reaching for Bruce.  
  
“What song is this?” he asks Tony as he lifts Steve into his arms.  
  
“Boswell Sisters,” Tony says, only half paying attention. “I figured something from his own time period might get him back to his normal geriatric self.”  
  
“Well, we might have some help with that. Odin came to check on him.”  
  
“Odin? As in the great gold wonder’s dad?”  
  
“No, Odin as in the Norse god. That Odin.” Bruce blows a raspberry on Steve’s stomach. “Apparently Frigga couldn’t make it.”  
  
“Huh.” Tony frowns. “Is he going to zap him back to normal?”  
  
Bruce shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Thor said he might speed it up a bit, but the spell needs to wear off on its own. In the mean time, say good bye to Tony.” He waves Steve’s hand and heads out.  
  
Steve isn’t at all intimidated by Odin. He stares. After a few moments, where Odin and Steve give each other measuring looks, Steve reaches out and touches Odin’s eye patch. Odin smiles.  
  
The meeting is relatively short. Odin holds Steve and does something, Bruce isn’t exactly sure what. He casually bounces Steve on his knee while he catches up with Thor, and then he leaves.  
  
“Is that it?” Clint says, when Odin’s gone.  
  
Thor nods holding Steve over his head and carefully tossing him. “My mother was correct in her assessment. Young Steve is progressing adequately.”  
  
“That’s seriously it?”  
  
Steve occupies himself with trying to grab Thor’s nose, so Thor occupies himself with holding him just out of reach. Bruce sighs.  
  
“It’s time for him to eat.”  
  
  
Natasha stares at Thor as he pulls the tiny yellow spoon out of his mouth. “I can’t believe you’re actually eating that.”  
  
“It is a most pleasing dish,” Thor says, holding the jar out to her. “I cannot believe this is a product only intended for infants.”  
  
“It’s actually not that bad,” Bruce says. He’s the one actually feeding Steve, holding a second jar of pureed sweet potatoes. “Bland, maybe, but it’s like eating sweet potato fries.”  
  
“They fry these?” Thor looks like an excited puppy. “How else can this be eaten?”  
  
Bruce blinks and pauses with the spoon in the air. “There are lots of ways. Fried, mashed, baked….” Steve tries to take the spoon from him, but Bruce isn’t paying attention. “It’s like a regular potato, only it’s sometimes eaten as dessert.”  
  
Natasha takes the spoon from him and gives it to Steve herself. “We bought that food for Steve. How did you even figure out what it tastes like?”  
  
“Steve was unsure when initially presented with this sweet potato,” Thor says with an easy smile. “On Lady Pepper’s recommendation I tasted it myself to encourage him. As she said, when he saw that I enjoyed it, he became quite eager to eat it.”  
  
Impatient for another bite, Steve bangs on the tray of his highchair. The tray breaks.  
  
They stare in stunned silence, even Steve, who looks startled and increasingly upset. Bruce picks him up before he can cry.  
  
“We need to buy him a new one,” Natasha says after a moment. She seems to have recovered her composure.  
  
Thor beams. “It is as my mother predicted. The captain is beginning to return to us.” He takes Steve from Bruce and rubs his back. “Do not worry, my friend. It is only your body beginning to right itself.”  
  
  
Tony, being Tony, made a highchair that could withstand Steve at full adult strength. After a mission with left Steve in the care of a SHIELD agent, which eventually became Fury watching Steve, which eventually became an explicit pact that no matter the mission, one Avenger stayed behind to look after Steve, they fell into a bit of a pattern. Aside from the odd megalomaniac trying to take over the world, and the occasional event that called for Natasha and Clint to periodically vanish, things were peaceful in the tower. The world was relatively safe, and Steve was getting bigger every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the cotton candy bingo prompt “return”.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Baby Steve Adventures [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4016452) by [blackglass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass)




End file.
